Pahrump Valley High School’s Junior Varsity Boys Soccer team had a very impressive season. Many of these players may be new to playing soccer at the high school level or to soccer at all. When watching them, you wouldn’t know this though. From the coaches to the players, this team is going great things.
I had the opportunity to interview the JV soccer coach Devin Peterson and one of the JV players Jayden McMahon. I asked about their experiences and thoughts on this season. I chose to speak with them due to their impressive record 6-3-1, including a notable victory against SLAM, which had yet to be accomplished in over five years. One of the individuals I interviewed was McMahon, a key leader on the team who was also the easiest to reach.
The first question I asked McMahon during the interview was, did you think the practices made you worse or better. His response was: ”I feel like soccer practice makes me and other people better because it was productive and we got a lot done”. The reason why I asked that is because he told me some days they would work as a team and other days they would be in groups of people mixed of JV and varsity kids. The next question I asked was do you believe the season was a success or a failure of a season. The response I got from that was: “I feel like we had an all-around fun and successful season because we went 6-3-1 and even found a way to have fun after we lost”. Even with the practices they finished with 6-3-1 making it a successful season and is it a successful season if you aren’t having fun? The last and final question I asked McMahon was how he and the team could improve significantly. He said, “If the soccer team played year-round, we would get a lot better”. I asked this question because many of the teams they play mostly play throughout the year.
The next and final person I interviewed was Coach Peterson. I asked him the same questions but with a twist. For example, the first question I posed was how he thought they could have had an even more successful season. He replied, “One way we could have improved our season is by playing more games, such as tournaments”. This is relevant because, despite their great season, he believes they could have performed even better. Another question I asked was whether he believes they will have a better season next year. He confidently stated, “Yes, I believe we are going to have an even more successful season next year. The reason I say this is that I’ve seen the upcoming players, and I believe they are better than this class and have more chemistry. Most of them know each other, so the chemistry will be good”. This is significant because, even after an amazing season, he feels they can achieve even higher success. The last question I asked was about his coaching style. He explained, “My coaching style focuses on motivation and accountability, as well as building up people’s skills and finding the positives in losses”. This is relevant because it highlights how they seek to find growth even in challenging situations. Finally, considering his successful season, I asked whether we would see him return as the JV coach. His response surprised me. He said, “As of now, no. I’m not going to come back as the JV coach and the reason is due to internal conflict”. It’s relevant because even with all that success what could be happening behind the scenes that does not want to make him come back? But with that, there could’ve been a lot of things that could have made their season even better and more successful.
Even though the season ended and came out and supported the JV boys soccer next year.
